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Rayshard Brooks' widow can't be more thankful for LeBron James and the rest of the NBA taking a stand with their boycott ... and she's hopeful true change is on its way.

Tomika Miller tells TMZ ... she beamed with pride after the Lakers and the rest of the NBA teams decided to boycott Wednesday's playoff games to bring attention to police brutality following the shooting of Jacob Blake and the 17-year-old who allegedly shot and killed 2 protesters in Kenosha, WI.

Tomika says there's a huge difference between her taking a stand at her workplace versus the NBA -- and several MLB, WNBA and MLS teams for that matter -- boycotting games. The size of the platform matters, and she says it brings a bigger spotlight on the plight of Black Americans.

Tomika said the players' actions let people like her know the "little people" are not forgotten by the privileged. As you know by now, Tomika's husband, Rayshard, was shot in the back and killed in June after cops found him asleep at the wheel at an Atlanta drive-thru.

When officers tried to handcuff him, a struggle ensued -- Brooks grabbed an officer's taser and ran before he was shot in the back 3 times. Making matters worse ... the family lawyer says cops waited more than 2 minutes to even check on Brooks once he was down.

Blake also was shot in the back ... 7 times at point-blank range by Kenosha, WI police officer Rusten Sheskey.

This is what it's like when reality dating show worlds collide -- a lot of scandal over nothing ... according to sources close to "Love is Blind" couple Damian Powers and Giannina Gibelli.

Fans of the show, along with fans of "Too Hot to Handle" star Francesca Farago, were a bit stunned when a scantily clad Francesca left a trendy L.A. restaurant Tuesday night while holding onto Damian's arm ... lots of folks thought he and Giannina were dunzo.

Turns out ... it's all still status quo. We're told Damian and Giannina are still together and still in love ... he and Francesca are just friends, and Giannina's cool with that.

Our sources say Damian and Francesca share the same lawyer and management team, and their Tuesday outing was actually with the lawyer ... along with a couple of Francesca's friends.

Fact is, it's pretty common for these reality TV stars to run in the same circles and mingle ... which is what went down Tuesday night.

As "Love is Blind" followers know, Damian and Giannina were fan favorites but didn't end up getting hitched after D got cold feet. However, they reconciled right after the show and have been solid ever since.

One of Floyd Mayweather's top business associates is so outraged over the recent police shootings, he wrote up a new police reform proposal in the hopes of fixing the system.

Brent Johnson is the CEO of One Entertainment -- and handles international business deals for Floyd Mayweather. He also has a law degree.

Johnson has drawn up a 6 point document titled, "Amendment Proposal for American Police Policy Reform" which lays out his plan.

AMENDMENT 1 – Zero Tolerance for Racial Bias and Violence Against Minorities (5-5-5 Plan)

Any officer who has 5 confirmed incidents involving racial bias within a 5-year period will be hit with a nationwide ban on employment in law enforcement, in any capacity, across the country.

AMENDMENT 2 – Racial Representation In The Police Population (The 70% Rule)

Illinois internet sensation Keenan Cahill was only 15 years old when he became a viral sensation for his one-of-a-kind lip sync skills to iconic songs like "Party In The USA," "Bad Romance," "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love Again" and even "Don't Stop Believin'."

While Keenan Cahill was already getting millions of views to his YouTube channel ... it was his surprise collaboration with 50 Cent on "Down On Me" that launched him to the next level and opened the door for a bunch more famous guest appearances including Pauly D, David Guetta, Nick Cannon, Lil John and many more!

The 17-year-old arrested in the fatal shooting of 2 Jacob Blake protesters in Kenosha allegedly killed at least one unarmed man, and could get life in prison for murder ... along with 4 other felony charges.

The criminal complaint against Kyle Rittenhouse was released Thursday, and it says the first person the Illinois teenager allegedly shot, Joseph Rosenbaum, "appeared to be unarmed for the duration of video" reviewed by investigators.

Prosecutors say Rosenbaum appeared to throw an object at Rittenhouse before the fatal shooting, and a second video apparently shows the object in question was nothing more than a plastic bag.

The complaint also says Rosenbaum leaned in toward Rittenhouse -- apparently trying to reach for his gun according to a witness -- and then fell to the ground after 4 loud bangs. Then Rittenhouse got on his cellphone to make a call, and prosecutors say he was overheard saying, "I just killed somebody" as he ran away. He's been charged with first-degree reckless homicide for Rosenbaum's death.

Rittenhouse is also charged with first-degree intentional homicide (murder in most states) of Anthony Huber. Prosecutors say Huber -- seen with a skateboard in several videos -- approached Rittenhouse, who was lying on his back, and appeared to reach for Rittenhouse's gun. According to the complaint, Rittenhouse fired a round, sending Huber staggering away before collapsing to the ground and dying from a gunshot wound.

All told, prosecutors charged Rittenhouse with 5 felonies -- the 3 others are 2 counts of first-degree reckless endangerment and one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide.

That last count was for allegedly shooting Gaige Grosskreutz, who prosecutors say appeared to be armed, and suffered one non-lethal gunshot wound.

Bradley Cooper's shaggy hair and garb sure give him that '70s Hollywood hotshot look ... and that's great 'cause it's the vibe he's going for.

The "A Star is Born" director looked like a spitting image of the hairdresser-turned-movie mogul Jon Peters on the set of director Paul Thomas Anderson's new flick. He looked every bit the part .... thanks to a spot-on wig, beard, flowing white shirt and bellbottoms. Gotta admire the seashell necklace too.

Anderson's new film -- working title, "Soggy Bottom" -- is set in the '70s when Peters dated one Barbra Streisand. There's an old pic of Peters and Streisand, and it's a mirror image of Bradley's getup.

Peters, of course, is a big deal ... producer of "A Star is Born" ... both the 1976 and 2018 versions. He's also produced "Flashdance," "The Color Purple," "Rain Man" and "Tango & Cash," to name just a few. BTW, Peters not long ago married Pamela Anderson. Never mind they split up 12 days later.

Anyway ... production did one helluva job transforming Bradley into Peters, that's for sure. Also, gotta give them props for adhering to strict COVID-19 guidelines.

Oh, one last thing ... an eagle-eyed photog snapped away when model/actress Brigitte Nielsen happened to be riding her bike with her pooch not far behind sitting in a wagon as Bradley took a break at a gas station. Her Jon Peters connection? Brigitte's ex, Sylvester Stallone, starred in "Tango & Cash." Full circle, baby.

The NHL is following the MLB, NBA, WNBA and MLS' lead ... with the league officially postponing games following the Jacob Blake shooting.

"After much discussion, NHL Players believe that the best course of action would be to take a step back and not play tonight’s and tomorrow’s games as scheduled," the league announced Thursday.

The decision comes after several players -- including Matt Dumba and Evander Kane -- criticized the league's response to the boycotts sweeping the sports world.

The NHL says they support the players' wishes ... and will make up the games starting Saturday.

NHL continued ... "Black and Brown communities continue to face real, painful experiences. The NHL and NHLPA recognize that much work remains to be done before we can play an appropriate role in a discussion centered on diversity, inclusion and social justice.

As we previously reported ... the NBA kickstarted a massive movement on Wednesday after the Milwaukee Bucks elected to stay in the locker rooms in protest ... and have since agreed to continue the season.

"We understand that the tragedies involving Jacob Blake, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others require us to recognize this moment," the NHL added.

Scooby, Shaggy, Velma, Fred and Daphne are in mourning ... 'Scooby-Doo' co-creator Joe Ruby has died.

The animation writer and TV executive who co-created the famous cartoon series "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" died Wednesday in Westlake Village, CA of natural causes ... according to his family.

Joe, along with his animation partner Ken Spears, worked wonders for Hanna-Barbera over the years ... the duo also created popular series "Dynomutt" and "Jabberjaw" but they're most famous for 'Scooby.'

The gang started solving mysteries when 'Scooby-Doo' first aired on CBS way back in 1969, with Joe and Ken writing the animated series' first 5 episodes, plus story editing and supervising for the rest of the inaugural series.

The OG 'Scooby-Doo' aired until 1976 and, as you know, it's given rise to tons of spin-off series, reboots and movies.

Joe, who also served in the Navy, got his start in the biz as an inbetweener with Walt Disney Productions, then moved on to Hanna-Barbera Productions, where he met Ken.

Once 'Scooby-Doo' became TV gold, Joe and Ken were hired to oversee Saturday morning cartoons on CBS. They eventually left for ABC, and in 1977 set up their own studio, Ruby-Spears Productions, producing series like "Mister T," "Superman" and "Alvin and The Chipmunks."

Joe also worked as an executive producer on animated adaptions of live-action movies and TV shows, including "Police Academy: The Animated Series," "Rambo" and "Punky Brewster."

Ruby is survived by his wife, Carole, and their 4 children and 10 grandchildren.

He was 87.

Kim Kardashian's definitely thirsty ... she straight-up sipped tea through a new smoking hot photo shoot. Good work if you can get it!

Kim's quest to remind everyone -- ahem, Kanye West -- she's still one of the baddest chicks on the planet continued after hitting up Malibu on Wednesday ... showing off her bod in this awesome snake-print, string bikini.

She showed up to the 'Bu after shooting a recent episode of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" ... setting herself down in the hot sand with an iced tea and that always picturesque SoCal backdrop.

David Arquette's professional wrestling career has been both mocked and admired, but above all else, it's been bloody hard work ... and he says it's coming to an end soon.

The actor's journey as a pro wrestler began way back in 2000, but as he points out on "TMZ Live" ... he didn't have a clue then about what it actually took to be successful.

Fast forward a couple decades, and a battle-worn David is flying higher above the wrestling ring than ever before -- even at 48 -- thanks to a commitment to various types of training and a devotion to the sport he's loved for a long time.

David says he's still an actor, though, and despite his remarkable comeback -- which is the subject of his new documentary -- he claims he's calling it quits soon.

That's probably a good thing, because as you may recall ... David was badly injured in a bloody match in 2018, and damn near died in 2019 after continuing to dish out and take beatings in the ring.

Arquette's daughter Coco wasn't too pleased with all of this, but he tells us she's come to accept and understand it more after seeing the documentary ... which he calls a "love letter to wrestling."

Every week is Shark Week for the United States Coast Guard ... a shark was stalking a ton of swimmers in the ocean, and a hail of bullets saved the day!!!

Check out this video from the Coast Guard Cutter Kimball deployed near Hawaii ... there are 40 crew members swimming just off the boat when all of a sudden a massive shark surfaces and swim towards the swimmers.

Petty Officer 1st Class Samuel Cintron springs into action ... the maritime enforcement specialist -- pretty sweet job title -- takes aim and fires several rounds at the shark, which the Coast Guard says was between 6 and 8 feet long!

It's pretty wild ... the bullets hit the water scarily close to the swimmers, as they scramble to avoid the shark and swim back to safety on the boat.

The scene is straight outta "Jaws" and it comes with a happy ending ... all 40 crew members safely cleared the water and the shark appeared uninjured as it swam back into the depths.

This time they did NOT need a bigger boat ... thanks to the Coast Guard.

There's still hope the NBA players and league execs can work out a plan to save the season ... with players compiling a list of "actionable items" they want the NBA to endorse in order to proceed.

A high-ranking NBA source tells us ... the feeling among several players is they will lose their biggest platform if they stop the season.

Of course, a stoppage won't affect the impact of superstars like LeBron James ... but we're told the majority of players see real value in being able to use the NBA platform to speak to the masses about social justice issues.

In fact, Draymond Green just posted about it -- saying, "The notion that athletes should just stop working but no one else in the world should stop is baffling to me."

"Why stop doing the very thing that offers you the biggest platform to speak for those that look like me/a lot of us?"

"To do that is to actually give up the platform to speak for them, because without us using our platforms which is afforded by the influence of the sport, it actually stops us from echoing what those in the back are saying."

So, the hope is both sides can reach a compromise -- with players coming together after a tense Wednesday night meeting in order to put together a list of demands for the league.

Obviously, the NBA wants to proceed -- there’s so much money at stake. And, from what we understand, the league execs and owners are meeting Thursday morning to figure out a way to work out a deal with the players.

As we previously reported, the Milwaukee Bucks were the first team to boycott on Wednesday when they refused to take the floor for Game 5 of their playoff series with the Orlando Magic.

Other teams followed suit ... until the league officially announced that all games would be rescheduled to a later date.

We're told the league had already planned for possible COVID-related postponements ... so they're not super worried about getting back on schedule.

But, word is ... play almost certainly will not resume Thursday -- everybody still needs some time.

Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth went on a disgusting rant in 2018, suggesting that 5 arrested suspects -- all Black -- were "not worth saving" and should be locked up for life ... all over a retail theft and car chase incident.

Sheriff Beth -- who's in the public spotlight following the shooting of Jacob Blake and subsequent riots in Kenosha that led to 2 people being killed -- used the phrase "these people" multiple times as he described how he believed they should be "warehoused" ... so as not to allow the men to procreate.

The Sheriff went on to say it's time to stop being politically correct -- and though he specifically claimed race was not a factor -- he insisted "these people" should be put away for good.

Later in his speech, Beth said ... "In this country, in this community, in this state, we have to get to the point where we will no longer put up with the garbage people that fill our communities. They are a cancer to our society."

The case that got Beth so riled up was a retail theft in a mall that led to a car chase and a 2-car crash. At the time, Beth said he was so angered because the suspects hit another car being driven by a 16-year-old who just got his license ... though nobody was seriously injured.

The 5 suspects, aged 16 to 23, were all from Milwaukee and were all charged with felony retail theft and obstruction.

Beth addressed the media Wednesday following a deadly night in Kenosha, in which 2 protesters were shot and killed by an armed suspect. Cops later arrested 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse in connection with the incident.

The Sheriff suggested Rittenhouse was part of a group of people who asked to be deputized in order to help police patrol the area, something Beth said he wouldn't do because of the liability and chaos it can cause ... as evidenced by what happened Tuesday night.

The Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers have also canceled their Thursday practices.

Several NFL teams -- including the NY Jets and the Indianapolis Colts -- are canceling practice Thursday so players can focus on social justice issues.

Just one day after multiple NBA teams refused to take the court for their Game 5 playoff games as a "boycott" to show outrage over the Jacob Blake shooting, NFL players are also taking action.

The Washington Football Team is among those canceling team activities Thursday.

Head coach Ron Rivera says the decision came after a conversation with new team president Jason Wright.

"Jason Wright and I worked this afternoon to develop a response that has the right balance between the business of football and being truly thoughtful about the social injustice we witnessed with this latest incident in Wisconsin."

"We went to Mr. Snyder with our plan for tomorrow and we were given his complete support and approval."

Rivera says the plan is to return to football on Friday -- but Thursday will "be about reflection instead."

"In place of our practice at FedExField, the players, coaches and football staff will meet as a football family and we will continue our open dialogue on the issues of racism and social injustice in our country."

Not all NFL teams scrapped practice Thursday -- the Ravens, Giants, Patriots and Buccaneers proceeded as scheduled.

The Ravens explained, "Our team decided to practice this morning. After practice, the team will come together for a meeting to discuss and work on a plan for continued social justice reform efforts."

Jennifer Lopez says owning the NY Mets would not only be "amazing" for her ... but extremely beneficial for MLB to have a strong woman in a position of power.

Both J.Lo and Alex Rodriguez have been laser-focused on trying to buy the team from the Wilpon family -- raising millions of dollars from high profile investors in the hopes of closing a deal.

Jen's main competition is from Wall Street titan Steve Cohen -- who reportedly made a $2.6 billion bid ... though word on the street is the Wilpons would rather sell to J-Rod's group if they can get close to that number.

Jennifer appeared on Barstool Sports' "The Corp" podcast -- where she was asked about the latest developments with the ownership pursuit.

"Listen, in this day and age, that would be something that would be so amazing," Lopez said.

"We don’t, I don’t have anything to report on that end right now. But, I think in every field, especially in institutions like Major League Baseball that are so American in this moment in time, it is important for diversity and it is important for women to have positions of power that they’ve earned and deserve and can contribute in a way that is just as good as any man on the planet."

She adds, "So of course I am for it."

There are currently zero women listed as a principal owner of a Major League Baseball franchise.

Also, Lopez wouldn't just be a silent partner -- she has a reputation as a savvy self-made businesswoman who's made a fortune over the years ... and she's not afraid to speak her mind.

So far, a bunch of NBA and NFL stars have joined the J-Rod investment group including Travis Kelce, DeMarco Murray and Brian Urlacher.

R. Kelly got a taste of jailhouse justice -- a frustrated inmate went on the attack and jumped Kelly in his cell ... TMZ has learned.

Federal law enforcement sources with direct knowledge tell us the incident recently went down inside the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago where Kelly was sitting on his bed when another inmate walked in his cell and started punching the crap out of Kelly.

Our sources say the inmate went on the attack because he was angry about the detention facility being placed on lock down a couple of times largely due to Kelly protesters outside the jail.

We're told the fight didn't last long, and it's unclear if another inmate or guards broke it up. Our sources say Kelly was examined by a doctor, who determined the singer was okay ... no broken bones or serious injuries.

A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau Of Prisons tells TMZ ... it cannot comment on an individual inmate's conditions of confinement or medical status due to privacy and safety reasons. We also reached out to Kelly's attorney, Steven Greenberg, for comment but he declined to discuss the incident and said Kelly's been a model inmate.